Edible Apple

Apple this past quarter shipped a whopping 37 million iPhones, setting a new quarterly record as iPhone sales grew 128% year over year.

The achievement was enough for Apple to slightly edge out Samsung with respect to smartphone sales during the recent holiday quarter. A few days ago, Samsung reported shipping 36 million smartphones as the Korean based company reported $4.7 billion in profits during the Q4 of 2011.

Looking back over the past year, Samsung edged out Apple in smartphone sales during the June quarter while Apple bested Samsung during the March quarter. All told, Apple in 2011 sold 93 million smartphones while Samsung managed to sell 95 million smartphones. And while Apple’s iPhone growth is certainly impressive, Samsung didn’t slouch off in that department either as their year over year growth checked in at 278%.

Of course, when it comes to profit share in the smartphone market, Apple simply can’t be touched. Hell, when it comes to profits period, Apple can’t be touched. With revenue of $46.33 billion in the last quarter, Apple reported one of the most lucrative quarters in corporate history. The short of it is that Apple’s business model generates a whole lot more money with less.

In any event, the research firm IHS last week released a chart charting smartphone shipments over the past few quarters.

So while things are looking up for Apple and Samsung, the same can’t be said for Nokia as the company continues to struggle to regain its footing after being blindsided by the iPhone. And despite positive reviews surrounding their Windows Phone 7 based Nokia Lumia lineup, customers simply aren’t picking them up en masse.